PETALING JAYA: The government should compile a comprehensive list of groups recognised as terrorist organisations and make it available to the public, rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) said today.
It’s project coordinator, Amir Hadi, such a list was necessary to ensure that those who were arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) were genuine supporters of terrorism.
He claimed that many of those arrested under Sosma were known to be only “soft supporters” who did not have comprehensive knowledge or information on the groups they were backing.
“For instance, when the Islamic State first surfaced, many were not aware that they were a terrorist group,” he said.
He said such a list on terrorist organisations could also raise public awareness.
“I do not know how the Malaysian government classifies a group as a terrorist organisation and this, to me, is a failure of both the government and the Home Ministry,” he added.
He claimed that the government had failed to fulfil its promise to reform security laws.
Amir said there should be an immediate freeze on the use of Sosma while the Prevention of Crimes Act and draconian provisions of in the Prevention of Terrorism Act should be abolished.
He also wants a tribunal to be set up to investigate alleged abuse of power by the police or prosecution when making arrests under Sosma.
